A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond
by The Heart's Notebook
Summary: Ryoko just wanted to forget everything, to escape. That's how she met him. He promised her a better life. So she took his hand and allowed him to turn her whole entire world around. But what exactly was she running from in the first place? ON HOLD
1. Prologue: The hand of Salvation

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Prologue: The Hand of Salvation<p>

She kept running. Ice cold rain was running down her bare arms. Thunder crashed ominously, lighting illuminated her face. She didn't want to go back there, not ever. She was exhausted; she collapsed in the alley into a puddle of cold water. She pulled her legs to her chest, buried her puffy sky blue irises into her knees, her almond brown hair encircling her.

"What are you doing out here in this weather?" A male voice spoke out of nowhere. The girl's head shot up, automatically glancing around for the source of the voice. A man taller than her with tan skin stood above her. His light purplish shirt cut off above his naval, his beige pants covered the top of his black shoes. He wore a gold Egyptian jewelry, a necklace, wrists band-like bracelets, arm bracelets, and earrings. His platinum blond locks were soaked. His lavender orbs watched her intensely.

"I should be asking you the same question." She answered. The man grinned at her.

"Who are you running from?" He kneeled in front of her.

"Someone I want to forget." She replied, brushing her hair out of her face with her hand to have her hair fall back behind her out of the way. The man reached out a hand to her.

"If you come with me you can forget everything, everything and everyone that you want to escape from." The blond stated easily. The girl looked at the hand then at the man.

"W-Who are you?" She wondered.

"Marik." The teen replied with a gentle grin. She took his hand, Marik pulled her to her feet. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Ryoko." The girl shivered from the spring rain. She encircled herself with her arms to keep warm. Marik walked to a motorcycle that Ryoko hadn't noticed before.

"Here put this on." Marik handed Ryoko a black leather jacket.

Ryoko took it and put it on, "Thank you."

"Your welcome," Marik handed her a red helmet with Spirit written on the side in lime green letters in an eerie writing style, "Here, put this on, we wouldn't want that pretty head of yours to get hurt, would we?"

Ryoko slid the helmet on over her drenched hair. Marik placed his own helmet on his head as he sat on the motorcycle. Ryoko stood still, she wasn't too fond of anything that got a person anywhere other than a car. "It's all right, there's nothing to be afraid of." Marik looked at her through the visor of his helmet.

Ryoko climbed onto the motorcycle behind Marik and slowly wrapped her arms around the man's waist. "Are you ready?" Marik looked over his shoulder at Ryoko to make sure she was ready before they took off.

"Uh-huh." Ryoko nodded. The motorcycle roared to life then began to growl like a panther, hence the name Panther written on the motorcycle in purple letters on its glossy black paint job.

"Let's go then." Marik removed his feet from the ground that kept the motorcycle steady and they were off. Ryoko watched the city lights rush past them as the raced through the streets.

"Where are we going?" Ryoko tried to make her voice loud enough so Marik could hear her.

Marik answered as he kept his eyes on the road, "Your new home."

**To Be Continued…**

**This fanfic is for YuYuInuWolf and every other Marik Ishtar fangirl out there, including yours truly! **


	2. The Pure among The Damned

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Ch1: The Pure among The Damned<p>

"It's hard to believe it's been a year since Marik found me." A brunette rode a crimson motorcycle wearing the very helmet she wore the night that she began her new life. Ryoko remembered the day she was rescued from her living hell of a life by a man that was the exact age as her as if it were yesterday.

Ryoko was almost there, the Cairo Museum. Marik wanted Ryoko to get something from his traitor of a sister, Ishizu.

She stopped her ride and got off after removing her helmet.

Ryoko was dressed in a lime green and aquamarine blue tie-dye tank-top that was covered with a black ribcage vest, the tank-top cutting off above her naval, the top of the tank showing a little of her chest. Her black shorts adorned with a wolf head belt buckled belt.

Her black heeled boots reached her knees leaving the rest of her legs bare. Her black leather fingerless gloves were ones of a biker. Her nails painted black. Her ear piercings consisted of two earlobe piercings on either ear, three cartilage piercings on her left ear, that were three silver rings, and a bar piercing on the cartilage of her right ear. Her tongue held a piercing that was a pink ball with a black zebra strip.

Her deck was held in a card holster around her left femur, making her left-handed. Her long smooth brown hair ran down to the small of her back, her bright sky blue eyes unnerving. Her hair took flight with the wind to reveal her strange birthmark on the back of her neck. The seventeen year old began to ascend the stairs.

**~Flashback~**

"_You wanted to see me, Marik?" Ryoko walked into a dark room that was lighted by oil lamps. Ryoko only called Marik by name when it was just her and him. _

"_Yes. I want you to go and do a little chore for me." Marik said on his throne, dressed in a purple rob. His head was braced up by his fist, his arm resting on the throne arm by the elbow. _

"_Something that's going to be fun to do I hope." Ryoko felt her tongue piercing move with the organ as she talked. She crossed her arms over her well developed chest. _

"_For you maybe, I want you to get something from Ishizu." Marik stated. _

"_Something like a card?" Ryoko wondered. Ryoko knew where Marik was going with this. He told her last month about the three legendary Egyptian god cards; Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and the one that they already had, The Winged-Dragon of Ra. _

"_So you already know what I require, Ryoko?" The hooded teen asked his only female rare hunter. _

_Ryoko nodded, "Yes, Slifer the Sky Dragon."_

**~End of Flashback~**

"I have to duel her. I'm not just going to take it; I'm no thief, unlike some of the slime balls are back home." Ryoko reached the top of the stairs. "They maybe slime balls, but they're the only real family I've ever had."

Wham! Ryoko kicked the locked door open with a single kick without warning. "Knocky knock!" Ryoko called into the deserted lobby of the museum. Suddenly a group of guards revealed themselves. A woman with long black hair and blue eyes walked into the room, her beige long sleeved dress reaching to her ankles, she wore a gold tauk around her neck. Marik told Ryoko about that too, the Millennium Necklace, "So she knew I was coming." Ryoko said to herself.

Ishizu sighed, her hands clasped in front of her, "Now I've seen it all, the pure finding a place among the damned."

"Oh don't start with me, Ishizu." Ryoko groaned, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"What is it that you want, Ryoko?" Ishizu asked the younger girl, her voice free of all emotion.

"Don't play dumb with me, you know exactly what I'm here for," Ryoko pointed at the older Ishtar sibling, "Hand over Slifer, Ishizu."

"I'm afraid that I can't do that." Ishizu said.

"And why ever not?" Ryoko knew the reason but she went ahead and asked anyway.

"Because it doesn't belong to you." Ishizu stated.

"And neither does it belong to you yet you manage to hold on to it. We have every right to have that card as much as the next person." Ryoko was unshakable in her protest. "I'll make you a deal. If I can beat you in a duel then the card becomes mine and if I can't then Slifer remains with you. And you can't use Slifer against me. Sound fair enough to you?" Ryoko wondered.

"Ryoko, my necklace told me that you would propose such a deal and I've also seen that you will not prevail."

"Maybe I won't maybe I will, I'm just full of surprises." Ryoko retrieved her deck from its holster.

Ishizu closed her eyes, "Very well then," She looked at the younger onna, "I will accept your challenge."

**To Be Continued…**

**Review!**


	3. The Power of a Mystery

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Ch2: The power of a mystery<p>

"Have you sent her?" A rare hunter asked Marik. Odion, Marik's brother, best friend, and his top rare hunter walked into the room.

"Yes." Marik answered, his blond hair falling into his eyes as he moved his head to look at the older man.

"Do you think she will be able to retrieve Slifer?" Odion walked to stand beside the gold throne that his master sat on.

"I wouldn't have sent Ryoko after it if I didn't think that she could get it. No doubt Ishizu saw her coming through her Millennium Necklace." Marik stated. "The only thing that will give Ryoko any trouble is if someone recognizes her, but I'm pretty sure she'll get back before then."

"You mean they'll take her back there?" Odion knew what Ryoko was trying to escape from when Marik found her, he brought her back with him and she became one of them.

"Yes, but they will never get the chance to catch her." Marik sighed.

#############################################

"So are you ready?" Ryoko placed her deck in her duel disk. The card plates glowed and fanned out. The life point counter set itself to four thousand.

"Of course." Ishizu drew her hand. Ryoko copied her; she smiled when she saw her favorite card all ready in her hand. "The first move is yours, Ryoko."

Ryoko chuckled at Ishizu's stupidity, "You're going to regret that."

"Maybe not, don't forget, I saw this duel beforehand." Ishizu said as Ryoko drew a card to begin her turn.

"You shouldn't rely on a mere vision, because the future can change." Ryoko stated. She glanced at her cards, "I summon Vampire Lord in attack mode with attack points of 2000."

"I knew as much Ryoko and now you will attack me with it." Ishizu said confident with her claim.

Ryoko grinned smugly, "Or will I?"

"What?" Ishizu gasped.

"I now sacrifice my Vampire Lord in order to special summon my Vampire Genesis in attack mode with the attack power of 3000, but I'm not done yet, I now activate my Genesis' special ability. By sending a low level zombie- type monster from my hand directly to the graveyard I'm allowed to summon a zombie monster with lower level then the discarded monster directly to the field. So welcome back my Vampire Lord."

"This cannot be. I didn't see this." Ishizu had fear written all over her face.

"Now for the fun part, Vampire Genesis strike her down, Almighty Fang Crush." The great vampire beast used its large fist to take Ishizu's life points from four thousand to a thousand, "Now Vampire Lord finish her off with your Merciless Bite of the immortals." The weaker vampire moved in on Ishizu and brought its fangs down on her neck taking her life points to zero. "I believe that the great Slifer now belongs to me, Ishizu." Ryoko grinned cockily.

"Yes, here it is." Ishizu threw the card to Ryoko, the card flew into the younger girl's hand with a Frisbee like motion.

"Thank you, maybe next time you won't rely on your so called Millennium Necklace to win a duel for you and just take it as it comes." Ryoko placed Slifer on top of her deck, placed the deck back in its holster, deactivated her duel disk, and turned to walk away.

"How long do you believe that you can keep running, Ryoko?" Ishizu wondered suddenly.

Ryoko stopped, she looked at Ishizu surprised then her face became unfazed, "I'm never going back there or back to him. I won't." Ryoko shivered at the thought of her living nightmare, "I should have known that Ishizu saw all this before it happened; saw the day that I ran away, when Marik found me, and when I would challenge her for Slifer." Ryoko thought to herself, "What do you care anyway?" Ryoko hissed aloud.

"Do you honestly believe that Marik is going to keep protecting you? Once he has all that he requires he won't need you anymore, he'll leave you out in the cold like you were when he found you." Ishizu said.

"SHUT UP! You're just trying to get me to turn against him, but it won't work. I trust Marik. And don't you dare speak as if you know me when you don't flippin' clue! Marik rescued me and for that I am grateful. I owe him one." With that Ryoko walked out of the museum without another word, got on her motorcycle, put on her helmet, and went to deliver Slifer the Sky Dragon to Marik.

Ryoko felt the wind blow against her arms and legs as she sped through the streets, "She wrong! Marik wouldn't do anything to hurt me….right?"

**To Be Continued…**

**Please Review!**


	4. Dragon Against the Dreams

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Ch3: Dragon Against the Dreams<p>

"Where have you been?" Marik asked as Ryoko pulled up on her motorcycle and shut it off.

Ryoko took off her helmet, "I went to get something to eat." Marik gave her a look, "What? I was hungry. If you're going to send me somewhere the least you can do is let me get something to eat on my way back."

"Anyway, do you have it?" Marik wondered.

"Of course, as if there was any doubt?" Ryoko removed the Sky Dragon from her deck and handed it to the Egyptian.

"Good work."

"Marik can I ask you a question?" Ryoko breathed.

"What?" Marik looked at the onna.

"W-When you defeat Yugi and become king can I… can I stay with you?" Ryoko asked with a ligament innocent-curiosity tone.

"Where is all of this coming from?" Marik was confused with why Ryoko would ask him such a question.

"Nothing, I was just wondering." Ryoko shook her head, her arms resting on the handlebars of the motorcycle she was sitting on.

"Is this all coming from something that Ishizu told you?" Marik questioned.

"…Yeah…"Ryoko answered.

"Ignore her; she's just trying to tear the trust between us apart." Marik said to Ryoko, who had her head on her arms and was staring straight ahead, not at Marik. "And there's another thing. Is there a reason why it took you an hour to get back?"

"…Uh…" Ryoko didn't know how to respond.

"You dueled against her didn't you?" Marik was mad now.

"Yeah, so what?" Ryoko knew Marik hated when she dueled someone when it was easier just to take the rare card, but like Ryoko said before, she was no thief.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Ryoko? I don't send you to duel, I send you to collect rare and powerful cards!" Marik shouted.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that I refuse to be a thief and not to yell at me! I'm not your servant Marik, if you don't like the way I do things then do them yourself. What's it matter if I dueled her or not, I got the damn card for ya didn't I?" Ryoko got off her motorcycle, her shoulder hitting Marik's as she walked past him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Marik turned to face the strong willed woman walking away from him.

"I'm going to take a shower." Ryoko answered then she stopped, "Oh and another thing…" Marik looked at her with a questioning look, "…NEXT TIME I EXPECT A THANK YOU, YOU SPOILED UNGRATEFUL ASSHOLE!" Ryoko looked over her shoulder at Marik. Ryoko stomped off without another word into the building.

Marik watched her retreating figure surprised, her face and tone were angry, but in the corner of her eyes tears were forming; he had hurt her feelings with a harsh blow.

##################################### **(That night, around midnight-ish, Ryoko's POV) **

"Let me out!" I shouted as I pounded my fists against the door that locked me into this cold room.

"She's getting restless, give her her meds." A male voice said on the other side of the door.

"NO!" I yelled. I backed away from the door so fast I almost fell. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" The man came with another, he had a shot in his hand.

"Now, now Ryoko behave yourself, just take the medicine." The man tried to reason with me.

"NO!" I threw my fist at him, the other man caught my punch and punched me sending me into the wall behind me, and I fell to the ground. The man that punched me grabbed me and held me down tightly. The man with the shot, grabbed my arm and inserted the needle into my delicate flesh, the needle broke the skin with a pinch.

"Take her to the room, where she can cool down." A voice came from the doorway, his face covered with shadows, but I knew who it was.

"No, leave me alone." I cried as I curled into a ball trembling. The men grabbed me, I yelled, kicked, I tried anything that would get me free, but they were too strong.

They threw me into the room; I landed on the cold cement floor with a grunt as I hit my head, a headache formed as a result of the impact. "YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE! LET ME OUT!" I ran to the door that was now closing but I didn't get to it before it closed I punched the door, demanding that they let me out of the cold room.

"That shot should of stabilized her, why didn't it?" One of the guards asked the other.

"Just give her another one." That haunting voice that I wanted to forget said.

"NOOOO!" They came in with another dose; I backed up to the wall and coward in the floor, throwing my arms up in attempt to protect myself, "MARIK HELP ME!"

######################################### **(End of Ryoko's POV)**

Marik lied in his bed uncovered, his bare tanned muscular chest glistening with perspiration. His toned arms folded behind his head. His baggy sweat pants making his legs burn from the heat that the pants created around them. "Damn." Marik cursed, he couldn't sleep, he was wide awake for some reason, usually he'd be out cold by now, but for some reason he just couldn't sleep.

"MARIK HELP ME!" A voice shrieked in the dark. Marik jolted upward.

"That's Ryoko." Marik realized, he got to his feet and rushed to the room that Ryoko slept in with his Millennium Rod in hand. "RYOKO!" Marik busted into the room to see Ryoko save and sound on her bed, curled up into a ball crying and screaming her lungs out. Marik called her name as he sat on the edge of the girl's bed.

Ryoko whimpered as Marik caressed her cheek gently with the back of his hand in an attempt to wake her. Ryoko's eyes fluttered open to reveal her eyes still glazed over with sleep, and then she jolted awake by grabbing Marik's wrist gasping in fear. "Ryoko it's okay, it's me." Marik soothed, Ryoko looked around the room then at Marik as she panted heavily, sweat and tears streaming.

"Marik…?" Ryoko looked at him confused as Marik brushed her bangs out of her face as she let his wrist go.

"What's wrong, did you… did you have that dream again?" Marik wondered as Ryoko sat up, she was lying atop of the sheets that covered her bed.

"Mmm-hmm." Ryoko shuddered as she continued to cry.

"Ryoko you're safe, they won't be able to find you here." Marik stated.

"I know, I just…" Ryoko's legs were brought to her chest, her arms holding her legs still; she let her head collapse on top of her knees, "I'm sorry about what I called you earlier." Ryoko said suddenly, not moving her face away from her knees at all.

"It's alright I deserved that," Ryoko looked up at him, "Now I have a question; why did you ask if you could stay with me?"

"Because… Because I don't want to be alone again." Ryoko lowered her head in embarrassment.

Marik lifted her face by the chin so she was looking at him straight in the eye. Her eyes were brimmed with tears, "Ryoko you'll never be alone again, and as long as I'm here you'll never have to go back to that place again."

"You swear?" Ryoko looked at him with a look that said that she couldn't tell if he was telling her the truth or not.

"Of course I do." Marik stated. Ryoko laid her head on Marik's shoulder after moving to sit beside him.

"So can I stay with you?" Ryoko wondered sleepily, closing her eyes.

"Yes, you can stay with me." Marik wrapped an arm over her shoulders.

"Thank you." They sat like that for a few minutes.

"So are you going to be okay now?" Marik looked at Ryoko and ended up grazing her forehead with his chin.

"Y-Yeah." Ryoko answered.

"All right then." Marik started to get up until Ryoko grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Please stay with me, just for tonight, please." Ryoko looked at Marik with a pleading look.

"Okay, okay." Marik sat back down beside her. They both lied down. Ryoko shuddered at the thought of going back to sleep with the fear that the dreams would return. Marik saw her tremble and brought her to his chest. Ryoko lied against him, listening to Marik's breathing she sighed, her body moved with his chest as he breathed. Marik held Ryoko close with an arm wrapped around her slim waist.

"Are we still going to Domino after Ishizu?" Ryoko wondered.

"Yes, we leave in three days." Marik answered as the moon bathed them both in its silvery light.

"Okay, can I still be in battle city?" Ryoko asked.

"Yeah, me and Odion will need your help." Marik smiled at Ryoko's love of dueling.

"Good…"Ryoko became quiet and still. Marik looked at the girl's face to find her asleep. Marik grinned and closed his eyes, falling asleep with Ryoko still in his arms.

Marik ran a hand through the sleeping onna's hair, "I'm not letting you stay with me not just because you're afraid of being alone Ryoko, but because I want you to stay with me too."

**To Be Continued…**

**AWWWW, sweetness. **

**Someone had asked me "Why Dragon?" That's what Ryoko's name means, Ryoko means dragon. **


	5. Setting a Trap

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Ch4: Setting a Trap<p>

"Ryoko, you know what to do?" Marik asked as he and Ryoko walked on the dock of the Domino pier.

"Yeah, lead Yugi friends here for the duel." Ryoko pulled on her gloves over her hands. Her left side bore a newly side tattoo, the Kio fish and the lotus' that it layed in stopped as it started to edge onto her stomach.

"Yes, I'm sending some of the rare hunter s with you." Marik said as some rare hunters appeared behind him. Marik turned to them, "All of you, while you're with Ryoko she's in charge, understand?"

"Yes sir." The hunter answered at once.

"Well let's get a move on boys." Ryoko put a cell phone in her jean shorts' pocket, Ryoko got on her motorcycle and put on her helmet, "If we split up we'll find them faster, contact me when you find them."

"Yes ma'am." The hunters dispersed as Ryoko took off on her ride.

Ryoko personally volunteered for this task, she was going to have some fun while she was at it, she chuckled sinisterly, "It's time to have some fun."

**To Be Continued…**

**Srry it's been awhile and the chp short, but it's all I got at the moment. I'll update soon, I promise.**


	6. A False Captive

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Ch5: A False Captive<p>

Ryoko parked her ride in an alley. She was at least a good two miles from where she left it. The ghouls that Marik sent with her had contacted her saying that they spotted Yugi's friends. Marik said he didn't care how she went about convincing their targets to follow her to the pier as long as she didn't give away information that would give them away.

"Here they come." Ryoko whispered as she hid behind a corner. She saw her targets coming her way, "Well, here goes nothing." Ryoko said before she ran towards the duo with a look of fear, "Help! Help me please!" She ran up to a guy with almond brown eyes and blond hair.

"What's matter?" The guy asked. Ryoko looked up at him, on the verge of tears.

"They're after me." Ryoko stated.

"Who is?" A brunette woman with blue eyes asked. Right on cue the rare hunters revealed themselves.

"Them!" Ryoko shouted, pointed at the men, and hid behind the blond boy.

The rare hunters looked at the group, "There she is!" One looked towards the three, then rest.

"Get her!" Another shouted. The men ran towards them.

"Come on, this way!" The woman said, she started running in the opposite direction, Ryoko and the boy right behind her.

The group of rare hunters chased them for at least five minutes. The trio finally found a place to hide; a door that led to a stair way of a building, they closed the door, waited for the men to run by, and they ran back down the alley in the direction they entered.

Once they thought they lost the men the three stopped to catch their breath, "Thanks for your help." Ryoko panted as she smiled weakly.

"No problem." The brunette smiled back.

"Mind telling us what that was about?" The boy asked.

"I'm Leiko," Ryoko gave them a fake name, "I'm a captive of those men." Ryoko said.

"I'm Tea and this is Joey." Tea said with a smile as the three finally caught their breath.

"Good to know." Ryoko smiled, she looked at the men behind Joey and Tea as a go signal, the men nodded, snuck up behind the two, and hit them both hard over the head; knocking them both out. "That wasn't so hard." Ryoko said as the men grabbed Tea and Joey, Ryoko dialed a number on her cell phone, "It's me, we have them, we are returning now." Ryoko said then after a word from the other line Ryoko hung up.

**To Be Continued…**


	7. Kiss Fight

**A****Golden****Embrace**** '****n****' ****Beyond**  
>Ch6: Kiss Fight<p>

"Set everything up for Yugi and Joey's duel. Yugi will be here soon." Marik said to a few of his Rare Hunters that were around him.

"Yes sir." They were dismissed. Marik and Ryoko walked to the deck of the yacht. Marik sighed.

Ryoko chuckled, "What's the matter; you finally realized how silly you look in that outfit?"

Marik grinned over his shoulder, "If anyone looks silly here it's you." He sat down.

"Hey, at least I can pull it off." Ryoko smiled. She got flirty and straddled Marik with one swift motion.

"Whatever." Marik was looking up at her. Ryoko Eskimo kissed him. Ryoko closed her eyes and let the Egyptian kiss her soft lips.

Marik deepened the kiss, running his tongue dominantly over Ryoko's. "There's no way I'm going to let him win." Ryoko said to herself as she got sly and ran a hand down Marik's chest as the other arm went around Marik's neck; making Marik lose focus.

Ryoko won control over the kiss in an instant. She slowly pulled a way, got up, and looked over her shoulder at Marik smugly.

Marik chuckled with a smirk; he also got up, and followed Ryoko into the bedroom.

**To Be Continued… **


	8. The Truth Hurts

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Ch7: The Truth Hurts<p>

Ryoko sighed with contentment, "That was amazing."

"_You _were amazing." Marik corrected beside the girl, "That felt good, didn't it?" Marik brushed Ryoko's hair out of her eyes.

"Yes." Ryoko moaned. It wasn't the first time they made love, but every time was a mind-blowing experience. The way Marik made Ryoko giggle when he ran his fingers over a place where she was ticklish, the way he made her moan, the way he made her scream for him never got old. Ryoko knew how to drive Marik crazy, Marik loved that about her. Ryoko was beautiful, strong-willed, funny, and satisfying in bed; she was everything Marik could want from a woman.

"You should go. I can sense Yugi, he's here." Ryoko stated.

"Yes. You stay here and get some rest." Marik got dressed and headed for the door.

"Excuse you." Ryoko said. Marik stopped, went to the bed, kissed Ryoko, and then left the room.

A good fifteen minutes passed and Ryoko was now bored of staying in Marik's room. Ryoko got dressed and went to find Marik. She walked down the slim path ways of the yacht, she then heard Marik yelling angrily at somebody, she stopped outside one of the doors and listened. "Everyone can be controlled!"

Ryoko gasped at Marik's words, her heart shattered, "So, all this time I really was one of his puppets." Ryoko turned and ran, she went to her room, got her deck, her duel disk, and her six locater cards, "Sorry Marik, but I'm not going to be your toy anymore." Ryoko snuck off the boat.

Ryoko froze when she heard someone calling her "name", "Leiko, Leiko over here!"

Ryoko turned to see Tea and Joey waving at her. "Oh great." Ryoko groaned, she smiled, and ran over to them, "Joey, Tea. Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, are you?" Joey wondered.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, I was just now able to get away."

########################**(Back on the yacht)**

Marik snarled out of anger from losing to the Pharaoh's vessel. He stormed to his room; he walked in to see that Ryoko was gone. Marik went to Ryoko's room to find she wasn't there either.

Odion came to the room, "Master Marik."

"What is it?"

"Lady Ryoko is gone; she has left with Yugi and his friends."

"So she things she can betray us, does she? Well she'll soon learn that she just can't walk away so easily."

"Shall I send some Rare Hunters to retrieve her, sir?"

"No. We'll handle her in the tournament."

**To Be Continued… **


	9. Facing the Dark

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond  
><strong>Ch8:Facing the Dark

"Um, Joey, who did you say this was?" Yugi asked his best friend.

Ryoko looked at the short tri-colored haired teen, she saw the Millennium Puzzle around his neck, "So he's the vessel of the great ruler." Ryoko's hair flew in her eyes as a breeze rushed past the group. She brushed her hair back with her fingers.

"This is Leiko, me and Tea helped her get away from some of the Rare Hunters." Joey explained, "Leiko, this is my buddies Yugi, Tristan, Duke, Mia, and my little sister Serenity." Joey introduced the group to Ryoko.

"Nice to meet you all." Ryoko smiled. Ryoko got annoyed when she noticed that Yugi was still staring at her, "What's his deal?" She wondered inwardly.

"Is it just me or is there something off about this girl?" Yugi wondered in his thoughts.

"No Yugi, I've been sensing something about Leiko, but I can't quite figure out what it is." Yami said, "We had best keep our eyes on her."

"Yugi get over here." Duke called. Yugi snapped out of his train of thought to see the others gathered, he went over to them.

"The word on the street is; we place our locator cards on our duel disks and the site of the finals is revealed." Joey activated his duel disk and placed his six locator cards on it.

"That makes sense to me." Mia said as her blond hair fell over her shoulders.

A hologram was activated, "The finals is at a football stadium?" Ryoko arched a fine brow.

"I guess so." Tea stood beside Ryoko.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Serenity smiled as her pretty auburn hair shined with the light from the hologram.

"Y'all heard Serenity, let's go." Mia said.

###############################

"This is the place of the finals?" Mia looked around.

It's still under construction." Duke pointed out.

"We are unfashionably early." Mia stated.

Ryoko stopped when she sensed someone watching her, "He's here, I can feel him."

"Leiko what's up? Come on." Joey called back to her. Ryoko looked over at him and ran over.

###############################

It was hard to believe that the finals were going to take place on a blimp. Ryoko didn't look at him when Marik entered the stadium; he was going by the name Namu and made friends with Yugi's friends by pretending he was on their side. Then some guy named Bakura came to the stadium, he had the Millennium Ring around his neck. Ryoko sensed something off about him; she decided she would have to watch her back.

She went to the room that had her number on it, number eight. She knew that Marik's room was just down the hall, but she tried her hardest to ignore that fact. Ryoko looked out the window and down at the beautifully lit city below. "It's just like you to stare aimlessly out the window." A voice said as the door slid open then closed.

"What do you want?" Ryoko didn't look at him.

"Whatever you heard back at the pier I didn't mean a word of it. There might be a lot of people that can be controlled, but you can't, I wasn't referring to you in the slighiest."

"Sure you weren't. Look, don't you think you've lied to me enough? Just leave!" Ryoko raised her voice.

"Fine, I'll go, but I really do mean it when I say; I love you, Ryoko." He left.

"You'll have to do better than that to earn forgiveness, Marik." Ryoko stated after he was gone.

########################################

"So it's Bakura against the Pharaoh in the first match is it? This should be fun to watch." Ryoko smirked as she followed her "friends" to the upper level for the duel. "I could sense it before, but now I'm positive, there's something not right about Bakura." Ryoko was into deep thought to notice Marik walking past her.

Bakura lost almost all of his points and the duel just started. Then he pulled a weird move when his monster, Dark Necrofear, was sent to the grave yard. "Get ready to experience an evil like you've never seen before." The evil spirit of the Ring chuckled.

"I knew that the Ring had something off about it, but I didn't think it contained a wacko as crazy as the Joker." Ryoko said. Ryoko glared when she sensed that Marik was listening in on her thoughts.

"We didn't think so either at first, but it turns out that that there is an evil dude that wants Yugi's Millennium Puzzle; and he'll do anything to get it." Joey said.

"No joke." Tristan agreed.

Ryoko sighed to herself, "Well Ryoko, it's time to face the dark."

**To Be Continued…**


	10. Four Deities

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Ch9: Four Deities<p>

Ryoko couldn't believe what she was seeing. The red dragon god, Slifer, had been summoned to the field. Ryoko's heart was pounding, "So you did lose Slifer to the pharaoh when you used Strings to duel him." Ryoko spoke to Marik through telepathy.

"Yes." Marik answered.

"You persuaded Bakura to fight Yugi for it so he can give it to you."

"Something like that."

"You're playing a dangerous game here, Marik."

"Are you worried about me, sweetheart?" Marik grinned smugly at Ryoko.

Ryoko scowled, she didn't answer. Ryoko looked back at the duel, "Slifer the Sky Dragon, it's weird to have another god so close." She thought to herself.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Marik interrupted Ryoko's thoughts, "You can feel Ra reacting to Slifer's energy."

"Yeah, I can feel it. Whenever the gods are near each other they send out their energy to touch the energy of the other. Ra's energy is pulsing, strongly."

"If it weren't for you we would've never found Ra."

"I have no doubt that you could've found it without my help." Ryoko got a little annoyed from the conversation, "Why am I even talking to you?"

"I don't know. You started it. And since you're listening, let me tell you something; I will punish you for betraying me."

"Betraying you? I trusted you with my life, Marik and look what you did, you turned me into your personal play toy."

"…"

"You never cared about me so why the hell should I care about you?" Ryoko looked away from Marik and at the duel again. "Just leave me alone, Marik."

"Fine, have it your way." Marik cut their telepathic conversation off completely.

Ryoko looked deep into the eyes of Slifer; her heart was pounding hard in her chest. "So this is what Slifer really is, a giant creature of divine power."

Marik used his Millennium Rod to listen in on Ryoko's thoughts, "Yes, Ryoko that is Slifer, one of three legendary deities of ancient Egypt. Although these fools believe that there is only three gods, you and I both know that there's actually four."

**To Be Continued… **


	11. A tear soaked Duel Disk

**A Golden Embrace 'n' Beyond**  
>Ch10: A tear soaked Duel Disk<p>

It was over. Yugi attacked Bakura after the Spirit of the Ring convinced him to wipe out his life points. Ryoko didn't see it coming when Odion appeared posing as Marik. Bakura, the real one, was barely conscious. Yugi ran to him as the duel arena was lowered, the others crowded around Bakura. Yugi or rather the pharaoh lifted him off the floor, "Bakura, are you all right?"

"Y-Yu…?" Bakura couldn't speak, because he was so weak. His arm was bleeding badly. Bakura's head fell against Yugi's chest as he passed out.

"Don't worry, you'll be okay." Yugi said.

"We need to take him to the infirmary." Tristan said as the others lifted Bakura onto Tristan's back. Ryoko was where she was from the start; she didn't rush over to the boy like the others, even if she did what could she do? Ryoko started to follow the gang until someone grabbed her wrist, he pulled her to him. They were so close together that he could easily kiss her, "Ryoko, why can't you just let it go? I told you I was sorry. Please babe, I don't want to hurt you." Marik brushed stray hairs out of Ryoko's eyes. Ryoko pushed on Marik's chest.

Ryoko glared at him, "It's a little too late for that isn't?"

Marik just looked Ryoko deep in the eyes; he cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her. "Mmmm." Ryoko protested and pushed against Marik's chest, but she stopped and melted against Marik and in to the kiss. Ryoko closed her eyes and let Marik kiss her deeply. Tears ran down Ryoko's face. Marik and Ryoko eventually broke apart. Marik let Ryoko go. Ryoko turned and ran away, she got into the elevator. The elevator doors closed. Ryoko let tears of confusion fall.

She wanted to hate him, yet she didn't. The Elevator door opened. Ryoko walked into the hallway. He said he was going to make her pay, yet he said he loved her and kissed her, his actions contradict what he said. Ryoko walked into a room. She saw the gang was around the bed were Bakura was in.

"How is he?" Ryoko asked. They turned to look at her.

"He's fine, he just needs some rest." The pharaoh answered. Ryoko nodded. "Leiko, is something wrong? You seem sad."

"No, no, everything is fine, thanks Yugi."

The pharaoh nodded. "Would all duelists report to the main hall for the next pairing of the Battle City semi-finals? Repeat: would all duelists report to the main hall for the next pairing of the Battle City semi-finals?"

"We should be going." Joey said. Tea said she would stay and watch over Bakura, the others headed to the main hall.

"Why does she need to watch him? It's not like he's going anywhere." Ryoko walked beside the pharaoh.

"It'll give her peace of mind knowing that he's okay, Leiko." Yugi said.

###################

They made it to the hall where the other duelists were waiting for them. The dueling bingo machine started. Odion and Joey were chosen for the second duel.

"Odion is going to tear the poor kid apart." Ryoko said to herself. However Joey was fired up and ready to go. "Joey honey, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

**To Be Continued… **


End file.
